I'm normally a fan of Glenn Erickson, but this bit alone contains two glaring factual errors:

Quote:

Having been excluded from the class of production deemed suitable for awards or critical acclaim, the Gainsborough pictures have been bypassed by film critics despite featuring interesting casting choices, including the debut of star James Mason.

Actually, a number of critics have written insightfully revisionist pieces about the Gainsborough melodramas (Pam Cook is probably the most prolific, but there have been plenty of others), and Mason made his screen debut a full eight years before The Man in Grey - he was playing leads as early as 1936.

He does, however, confirm that Eclipse's version of The Wicked Lady is indeed the original British cut, several minutes longer and considerably racier. I'd have been astounded if it hadn't been, but a very small part of me regrets that they didn't throw in the US cut as well - though obviously that's not Eclipse's style, and if the film had been bumped up to full Criterion status I suspect eyebrows might have pointed heavenwards.

A lurid tale of sex and psychosis, Madonna of the Seven Moons, directed by Arthur Crabtree, is among the wildest of the Gainsborough melodramas. Set in Italy, it begins as a relatively composed tale about a respectable, convent-raised woman (Phyllis Calvert) who is haunted by the memory of being raped as a teenager. When her grown daughter returns from school, her life begins to crack up in monumentally surprising ways. Stewart Granger also plays a prominent role in this sensational tale.

I've just been perusing the 'Double Bills' thread; perhaps this set is worth getting for the opportunity to watch this film on a double-bill with a suitably lurid Japanese 'nunsploitation' classic.I have it under consideration for a 'Barnes & Noble' purchase, unless a more reliable purchaser can offer me a competitive price.

I've seen 'The Wicked Lady', which is fun; this set, overall, looks like fun also

Jeez, I wasn't quite ready for Gainborough's wild ride in "The Man In Grey", but the loopy travel was more than amusing. I am not quite sure how this company gets away with its racy, devil take attitude. I guess setting the story in the prim and proper present makes up for pinning the film to the nasty past by a nifty little plot device. Margaret Lockwood plays her evil character all sharp with razor blades, and is a dead ringer for Wallis Simpson. Clever casting, to be sure ... She's so easy to hate! Phyllis Calvert looks looks like Glenda, the good witch. Double smart!

I can't pin down how this film get away with being so amusing and wrenchingly pleasing without falling totally into camp, but this studio seems to manage it. Who the hell cares if the story is so predicable when the minutes are flashing by and you're rolling on the floor in disbelief that this studio can get away with such preposterous fluff. Evidently they get wilder. I'm all set to watch the next one.